


Matching

by DeckofDragons



Series: Spooky Month 2019 Challenge [7]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Alcohol, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Spooky Month Challenge 2019, matching costumes, spy dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-14 07:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21012191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: Scout wants to coordinate and match costumes with Pyro.





	1. Thunder

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one of 2 or 3, I don't know yet. I haven't written part 2 yet so depending on what happens in it and how it ends determines how parts this fic is gonna get.
> 
> Also, this fic is kinda a request from an anon on tumblr. They asked for a FlashFire Halloween fic and I was already considering doing one so here it is.

It was raining cats and dogs outside. Thunder boomed overhead every few seconds, loud enough to be heard clearly through the concrete walls of the base. It was accompanied by a flash of lightning through the window and the occasional flicker of the lights as the storm threatened to take the power out.

Pyro had a vague memory once upon time being afraid of thunderstorms. It was distant though and he couldn’t even begin to guess how he’d gotten over it nor did he really care about it. He still didn’t like thunderstorms though; too many homemade flamethrowers had been ruined by heavy rain. The one he had now might survive, it was better quality and professionally made, but he wasn’t going to risk it. So instead he lay on Scout’s bed, looking out the window, waiting for the storm to pass so they could go back outside.

“So, uh…” Scout sat at his desk by the bed, also facing the window but looking down at his sketchbook as he doodled. “Halloween’s coming up soon. Which means Merasmus is probably going to come around and we’re going to have to deal with him again. But um… other than that Halloween’s pretty cool, don’t you think?”

“Yes!” All the decorations were really cool and pretty much every store that sold candy had a Halloween special. And it was the one time of year Pyro could go pretty much anywhere in public and have no one say anything about his suit, they just assumed it was a Halloween costume. “I like when Merasmus comes too though.” Another upside to Halloween.

“What?” Scout turned in his chair to look at him. “Why?”

“He has lots of pretty fire spells.”

“Hmm… I guess he does, huh?”

“And a lot of his other spells are cool too. And he’s funny, so is the Bombinomicon.” It’d be nice if they came around more often. Though it was possible Pyro was the only one on the team who felt that way.

Scout gave him a skeptical look before shaking it off. “Uh… if you say so, I guess. But anyway, about Halloween, I was thinking we could maybe uh… wear like a…. couple’s costume for the team Halloween party this year.”

“’Couple’s costume’?”

“Yeah uh… like you know, matching costumes that go together. Only if you want to course and only if there’s costume that uh… um… uh… is enough like your suit that you’d be comfortable wearing it. It’s _totally_ fine if you’d rather not though. I just thought since we’re like a thing now I’d uh… bring up the idea because I think it might be cool.”

Too excited to keep lying down, Pyro sat up. “That sounds like fun!” Normally he just wore something small over his suit but if there were costumes that could cover him up like his suit does, that’d be even better. “When do we go costume shopping?”

“Well uh…” Scout began before being cut off by a particularly loud burst of thunder from above, making the lights go out for a second or two before flickering weakly back on. “… Not right now, that’s for sure. How about sometime tomorrow or the next day when there’s hopefully less mud and no rain?”

“All right.” Pyro was excited, he’d never even had the chance to wear a _real_ costume before. Hopefully they’d be able to find a good one.


	2. Searching

Tuefort was not a large town. Its one and only shopping center barely even qualified as such. But it was all they had so hopefully it would be enough for their needs. Which were very specific, they needed matching costumes and Pyro needed something that would cover him up as much as possible. And Scout would prefer their costumes to be nice, meaning cool and not so cheap they’d fall apart at a drop of a hat. So, as a whole it was a rather tall order but maybe they’d get lucky.

Except in this part of the country Halloween was mostly viewed as a holiday for children. There was only one shop in the entire place that even sold Halloween costumes for adults. But it was the one Scout had gone to in prior years and had always found something that was at least good enough. So maybe they’d find something decent that fit what they were looking for.

“Our options are a bit limited but I’m sure we’ll find something,” Scout said as they stood in front the store’s Halloween section. It was like half the store but the store itself was not large by any means, making the Halloween section small by default.

Pyro mumbled something that was rendered unintelligible by his mask and excitement. He didn’t give Scout any time to ask him what he’d said before prancing forward to start looking at the Halloween stuff.

Alas, Pyro’s excitement Scout’s optimism couldn’t survive the reality of the situation. It didn’t take long for them to go through all of the available Halloween costumes and see that nothing here fit what Pyro wanted. There was nothing that would cover his face as much as he wanted. And he didn’t want to wear a cheap rubber mask because those were no fun on top of being uncomfortable and ugly.

There were a few cool things amongst the mostly cheap garbage that Scout would’ve been satisfied with if he wasn’t set on wearing a costume that matched Pyro’s. It had been a spur of a moment idea that he’d become attached to almost as soon as it had occurred to him and then even more so when Pyro had wholeheartedly agreed to it. But now it was starting to look like they maybe wouldn’t get to do it. It wasn’t the end of the world or anything but still disappointing.

“I’m sorry,” Pyro said, his voice barely comprehensible, once they’d reached the end of the store Halloween section.

“What are you sorry for?”

Pyro reply was unintelligible. But he didn’t need a reminder to speak clearly before speaking up. “I’m being picky and ruining it.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Scout put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. You have a thing about… you know,” people seeing his face. It wasn’t something Scout understood so he didn’t feel comfortable talking about it. But it was still a thing they needed to cater to when it came to stuff like this. “So, it’s not a problem. Don’t feel bad about it. We’ll figure something else out, okay?”

Pyro looked up from the floor to ‘meet’ his eyes. “Really? Like what?”

“Uh… um… we’ll ask Spy about it.” That’s what Scout normally did when he was having a problem he didn’t know how to solve. He’d been doing it since even before finding out that Spy was his dad and even more since then. If Spy didn’t like it, it was his own fault for rarely failing to provide a good solution. “He could point us to a place we could go to get something or he might have fancy costume like stuff we can borrow. In fact, I _know_ he does.”

“Hey Dad, can we come in?” Scout asked when Spy _finally_ answered his insistent knocking. “We have something important to ask you.”

“If you must, I suppose,” Spy said with a sigh as he stepped back to allow Pyro and Scout to enter. “It _better_ be important though.”

“Oh, it is, don’t worry.” _Scout_ thought it was important anyway, so did Pyro. “Right Py?” He turned to look at Pyro but Pyro was no longer paying attention to him or Spy.

Instead, Pyro had wondered _past_ them to look all around Spy’s room. Right, he’d never been in here before. Scout had forgotten how bizarre the paintings were and how fancy the furniture, carpet, and wallpaper was; he’d been in here so many times he was used to it all. Maybe he should’ve brought Pyro in here before this, he liked to look at weird and interesting things almost as much as Scout did and Spy’s room definitely fit that description.

Deciding to let Pyro explore a bit, Scout turned back to Spy. “Halloween’s coming up soon and therefore so is the team Halloween party. As you know I like to dress up for it every year, _this_ year I was thinking me and Pyro could wear matching costumes and Pyro agreed to it. So, we went to Tuefort on the latest supply run to try to find something but they don’t have anything, not even at the place I normally go. So, I thought that maybe…”

“This is really what you knocked on my door for a whole _minute_ to talk to me about?” Spy interrupted. “_Really_?”

“Yep, told you it was important. A real life and death situation over here. Anyway, then I thought to ask you for help since you have all that disguise stuff in your closet. Maybe some of it could work as a Halloween costume or you could hook us up with a place that will give us what we need for a couple of good Halloween costumes.”

“And _why_ would I let you look through my stuff or have _anything_ to do with my contacts?” Why did he have to be so _crotchety_ sometimes?

“Because I’m your son and you owe me for leaving when I was little.”

Spy flinched, a whole-body reaction that said that was _last_ thing he’d been expecting Scout to reply with. Before he could respond though, Scout continued.

“And because you love me.” That was a conversation they’d had before so it was okay to say when trying to get something from him.

“_Fine_. You already know where my disguise chest is. Don’t you dare touch anything else and you have to clear anything you decide to borrow with me first.” With that, Spy fled the room, almost slamming the door shut behind him in his rush to get out.

Pyro went over to the door to lock it, including the deadbolt before turning to face Scout again. After a brief glance around the room, he pulled off his mask. “That was an uh… interesting way to convince him.”

“It worked though, right?” Scout maybe should’ve been more tactful but this was faster so… it was worth it? And it’s not like anything he’d said wasn’t true.

Pyro stared at him for a beat or two of silence before changing the subject. “I want paintings in my room too, pretty ones. And a fireplace.” He pointed at the little fireplace on the other side of the room. “That might be hard to install though. But also, _this_!” He pranced over to Spy’s coffee table in front of the fireplace and picked up the three-pronged golden candleholder that was its center piece. “It’s pretty. And when the candles are all lit, it’ll be even _prettier_.”

Scout would have to remember this conversation later, towards Christmas time. For now, though… “True but uh… maybe don’t light it right now. We’re here on a mission and Spy will be mad if he finds out you messed with his stuff.” Or god forbid accidentally started a fire in here. It wouldn’t be the first time Pyro’s love of fire got a little out of hand and caused a problem.

Pyro paused before letting out a sigh as his shoulders slumped. He put his lighter, already halfway up to the candles’ wicks, back in his pocket. But he perked right back up after he put the candleholder back on the coffee. “Let’s search through Spy’s stuff to try to find a cool costume for Halloween.”


	3. Party

Made up from various things found in one of Spy’s disguise chests – the one that didn’t contain clothing from the enemy team – it was the _perfect_ costume. The fancy mask with a decorative border that looked a like a dragon breathing fire would cover all of his face and most of his head, the high brimmed embroidered hat would cover the rest. Gloves were a given and full body jacket had fancy buttons to keep it closed and cool shoulder things. Other than the mask, which was predominantly white, it was various shades of red, the primary shade being dark and mysterious looking.

“See? I told you Spy probably had stuff like this in his closet,” Scout said. They’d scrounged up a similar costume for him too. At Pyro’s request he’d even gone with one of the two other complete face masks they’d found; it had a snake on it. “He goes to balls and carnivals and all sorts of fancy events all the time. And he’s too much of rich snob to ever borrow anything he needs for those kinds of events so he buys stuff, wears it once, and then throws in into his closet. It’ll be a bit big on us but who cares?”

“We have to ask him again first though, right?” Pyro had only been sort of paying attention to their conversation but he had heard that part. … As well as the uncomfortable exchange that had come before it.

“Yeah, but I’m sure he’ll be fine with it as long as we promise not to damage or stain it. And he’ll probably make you promise not to play with fire while wearing it because he doesn’t trust anybody ever not even _me_, his own son. Though, I guess he does _kind of_ have a valid reason for that, I may have accidentally gotten a bit careless and broken or destroyed a _few_ of his things in the past. But I’ve learned my lesson, I’m trustworthy now… right? Do you think I’m trustworthy?”

“Yes!” Pyro trusted him more than he’d ever trusted anyone before.

“Good! But uh… anyway, yeah, he’s probably going to want you to promise to not play with fire around his stuff. You can of course break that promise if you need to so…”

“It’s fine,” Pyro interrupted. “I don’t mind making that promise.” It’d be for the best. He’d started wearing the fireproof suit all the time – before he’d grown the illogical need for the protections it gave him from other things, like people’s eyes – so he’d stop burning himself every time he got careless when playing with fire. Which naturally only made him more careless, meaning there was a high chance he’d hurt himself and possibly other people if he played with fire while not in his suit. “I can go one night without fire.” Once upon a time that would’ve been difficult but he had friends now and _Scout_ so it would be okay.

Scout gave him a surprised look that morphed into a proud smile. “All right, that’s cool then.”

Just as Scout had predicted, Spy okayed their borrowing what they’d picked out after extracting promises not to stain it, burn it, or ruin it in any other conceivable fashion and to hold each other accountable for keeping those promises or they’d pay the worth of the costume in cash to Spy. Which was a _lot_ of money. According to him anyway; it was just clothes, nice clothes sure but still just clothes. But regardless, they were all easy promises to make and keep. Which left them with nothing more to do than wait for Halloween.

Finally, the big day came. Warmth flooded Pyro’s chest as he looked at himself in the mirror in Scout’s room. The jacket and pants underneath were a bit baggy on him but not too bad. He looked fancy and cool, like someone who belonged in medieval times at a royal ball. And it was _comfortable_ – compared to his fireproof suit anyway – soft and not heavy, while also covering his whole body. Maybe… there were other things he could wear that would have the same affect so he didn’t have to wear his suit _all_ the time. … That was a thought to file away for later consideration.

“You look great,” Scout said, stepping into the mirror’s frame next to him. “_We_ look great.” The clothes were a bit baggier on him but he didn’t seem to mind. “We look we could be going to one of those… mask party things with the weird name, you know the ones I mean. We look like we’re going to one of those together.”

“We do!” Pyro hugged him. “I like it.” And they were _both_ completely covered and hidden. It was nice that Scout was doing that for him.

Scout chuckled, hugging him back. “Me too.”

“We’re going to be the coolest dudes a the party,” Scout said as they stepped back from each other a few seconds later. “Everyone’s going to be jealous.”

“Let’s go.” Pyro was excited to see what the others would think of their costumes, Spy should be the only one who knew what they were doing.

Holding Scout’s hand, Pyro led the way out and down the hall to the common room. They’d been in here a few hours ago, helping put up all the decorations: a Happy Halloween banner, some orange and black ribbons, fake cobwebs in the corners, a few fake spiders within them, and a whole skeleton that was donated by Medic - meaning it might be real – that hung from the ceiling. There was a table dedicated to Halloween themed snacks next the drink table, most of them alcoholic. Separate from them, on the other side of the room, was the table meant for games.

They arrived second after Spy who was always either the first one to arrive at a team event or the last one. His costume was fancy as always, made up of an extra fancy suit with a pretty pattern and a feathered mask covering the upper half of his face, underneath which was his usual ski mask.

Pyro skipped right up to him, bringing Scout along too. “Thank you again for letting us borrow stuff,” he said.

“Oh, Pyro?” Spy sounded almost taken aback. “I have never heard you speak without your gas mask on before. Your voice is… not what I expected.”

“Oh yeah, uh I didn’t even think of that,” Scout said. “Your voice is like easier to understand now. That okay? You don’t have to speak much if you’d rather…”

“It’s fine,” Pyro interrupted. Actually, it was more than fine, it was great. Being hard to understand was how he preferred it sometimes but he wasn’t in that kind of mood right now. He was with his friends, he _wanted_ them to understand him. “I like it actually!”

“Well uh… okay, cool.”

“Yes,” Spy agreed. “You are very welcome by the way. Just remember no fire or anything else that might cause damage to my stuff.”

“Got it.” Pyro gave him a thumbs up. He was too excited to need fire right now anyway.

Miss Pauling was the next to show up. She was dressed as a witch. Pyro skipped right up to her to say, “Hello,” and wave with his free hand.

“Oh uh… who are you?” she asked. Was his voice really _that_ changed by the gas mask?

“It’s Pyro,” Scout answered for him. “He doesn’t have to wear his gas mask because we found these super cool party masks instead as part of our super cool costumes. And we _match_, isn’t that awesome? We’ve got the best costumes this year for _sure_. If there was a competition we’d be all over first place.”

“Yes, I suppose they do look cool. But Pyro,” she looked at him again with a fond smile, “it’s nice to hear your voice unmuffled for once. I don’t think I ever have before. I… actually didn’t think you’d be okay with that kind of thing.”

“No, I like it.” It was _wonderful_ to be understood without having to enunciate. “You guys are my friends so I don’t mind.” One day he wanted to show all his friends his face too but… he wasn’t quite ready for that yet.

It wasn’t long before everyone else started filing in. Pyro went up to each and every one of them as they entered to greet them. The realization that he could be understood easily through the party mask was too exciting to pass up the opportunity to make sure all his friends knew what his voice actually sounded like. Before this only Scout had known. They were all pleasantly surprised by it too, even Soldier who didn’t normally seem to care about that kind of thing.

And it meant he could participate in Miss Pauling’s Halloween DnD campaign this year without the usual hassle that came with being hard to understand. It _also_ meant he could drink. Getting a straw up underneath the party mask without revealing anything was _much_ easier than with the gas mask. Drinking alcoholic beverages through a straw was a bit weird but who cared? It was fun and he’d never gotten to actually drink with Scout or the rest of the team before.

“Hey Py,” Scout slurred as he sagged into Pyro’s side. “I ever tell you that I looove you?”

Pyro leaned his head against Scout’s. He felt heavy and even while sitting at the drink table, dizzy. He’d fall over for sure if he tried to stand. He nodded. “Love you too. _Lots_. More than fire.” He reached into pocket for his lighter, he had to show Scout how pretty it was. But... it wasn’t there. With not words to describe that disappointment, he let out a whining sound instead.

“I think you two have had enough to drink,” Demo cut in as he pulled the punch bowl across the table towards himself.

“No,” Scout said, hugging Pyro’s arm now. “We’re _fine_, we can keep going.”

“Yes, fine,” Pyro agreed, trying to give Demo a thumbs up but the world rocking as much as it was made it hard. It made him feel sick.

“Nah, that’s like the fourth time in the last half hour, you’ve checked your pocket for you lighter Pyro. Thankfully you don’t got it or we’d all be dead by now and thankfully Scout’s clinging to you like a barnacle or you’d’ve gotten up and gone looking for it until you found it and again we’d all be dead by fire. It’s making me nervous. _And_ I feel like, I should probably cut you off before you do something you’re going to regret in the morning. I’ve already gotten an accidental peek of your part of your face because of how careless you’re being with adjusting your mask for the straw.”

That… was bad but Pyro couldn’t exactly remember why right now. He used his free hand to reach for his lighter again before being reminded it still wasn’t there. If Scout wasn’t leaning into him and holding onto his arm, he would’ve gotten up go looking for it even if it meant falling over a few times. Fire was good for burning away things he didn’t like.

“So,” Demo continued before rising his voice, “_Spy get your ass over here and help your son and future son-in-law get off to bed before they drink themselves into a coma_.”

“Wait, what?” Scout said, stiffening a bit. “Did you just suggest…” he trialed off. “Eh… I guess I ain’t against that idea.”

Pyro wasn’t sure what they were talking about, nor did he really care. He wanted a refill of his drink but… it was empty _and_ Demo had pulled the punch bowl _all_ the way to his side of the table. How was Pyro supposed to get to it over there without standing up? And his lighter still wasn’t in his pocket; he wanted to set something on fire, damnit.

“I should be cutting you off too.” Spy had snuck up behind them. It wasn’t the enemy Spy though so it was okay.

“Nah, I got a liver made of steel.” Demo took another large drink, finishing off what was in his cup. He slammed it down on the table before standing up, only swaying a little bit considering how much he’d had to drink, more than Pyro and Scout had had for sure. “But help me get these two off to bed before something bad happens. They’re making me nervous, ‘specially Pyro.”

“Very well then. Scout, Pyro, it is _way_ past midnight and almost everyone else has headed off to bed so it is time for you to do so as well.”

“Nah, I don’t think…” Scout began before cutting off with surprise as Pyro stood up, bringing him up with him.

Right away the sway of the world increased tenfold. They would’ve both toppled over if Spy hadn’t caught them and steadied. Pyro closed his eyes and clung onto Scout, fighting the urge to vomit. He’d _promise_ not to ruin his costume. Thankfully the urge passed after a few seconds.

“Let’s go,” Demo said, standing on one side of Pyro and Scout now. Spy was on the other. Together, they guided Pyro Scout out of the common and down the hall to Scout’s room, not letting them fall over or stray. Spy even unlocked it for them and guided them in and onto the bed.

“I will be expecting my clothing returned to me tomorrow, whenever you finally wake up and have worked through your hangovers enough to be at least halfway functional. Have a good night.” Spy backed out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. There was small click as it locked.

“Good night,” Pyro said with a little wave even though he was already gone.

Scout huffed before starting to undress, throwing everything onto the floor. Pyro followed suit. Normally he’d want to hang it up but… couldn’t right now. He felt a bit better once he was down to just a pair of boxers, the cool air on his bare skin had a slight sobering effect.

Scout flopped over onto his back with a contented sigh. Pyro lay down too, making sure to cuddle up close to him, not bothering with the blanket bunch down by their feet.

“Fun night,” Scout said with a yawn, snuggling into Pyro.

“Yes, best Halloween ever, thanks.”

“Yeah, it was, huh? Best ever, knew it would be. Love you, good…” he trailed off as he fell asleep.

“Love you too,” Pyro replied before letting himself drift off too.


End file.
